CV Writing - they're not all the same!

Writing Different Kinds of CVs

What is a CV?

The term “curriculum vitae” comes from the Latin Curriculum (course) and Vitae (life): The course of one’s life. "It is vitae (not vita) because "life" in the phrase "course of life" … is in the genitive singular….” - Eric Daniels, CVtips.com

A Curriculum Vitae (CV) resembles a resume in many ways, but is more specifically focused on academic achievements. A CV summarizes educational and academic history, and may include details about teaching experience, publications (books, articles, research papers, unpublished manuscripts, or book chapters), and academic honors and awards. Use a CV rather than a resume for teaching or research opportunities, applying for fellowships or for further academic training. Some research positions in industry may also prefer a CV rather than a resume
CV’s are frequently longer than resumes, since the emphasis is on completeness rather than brevity. While there is no single correct format or style for writing a CV, the following types of information are generally included, and typically organized in this way:

• Name and Address
• Education
• Dissertation
• Fellowships and Awards
• Prepared to Teach or Areas of Research Interest or Areas of Specialization or Areas of Competence/ Expertise or Principal Research and Teaching Interests
• Teaching Experience
• Research Experience
• Publications and Presentations
• Works in Progress
• Related Professional Experience
• Languages
• Other
• References
• Dissertation Abstract

Additional Tips:

• Fields of Interest or Teaching Competencies: CVs may begin with a short section specifying Fields of Interest or Teaching Competencies (instead of a statement of Professional Objective with which resumes may begin). If you do include this optional section, make your categories as broad as possible to cover a variety of potential opportunities but don't be so broad that you appear unfocused.
• Teaching and Research Experience: On a CV it is appropriate to describe both teaching and research experience in detail (on a resume this is usually not appropriate). If applying for a position that primarily involves research, describe research experience first; if the reverse is true, put teaching experience first.
• Work Experience: Work experience not directly relevant to research/teaching/academic opportunities should be omitted or described only briefly on a CV.
• Other: This may include miscellaneous personal information such as membership in professional or scholarly associations, travel or study abroad, or personal interests. Include only if you feel that some aspects of your personal history may be relevant and of potential interest to your readers.
• References: If you list references, provide title, university affiliation, and phone number
• Your Dissertation:
• If you are working on or have recently finished your doctoral degree, at least include a brief, clear summary of your thesis topic in the Education section.
• Including a separate one- or two- page abstract of your thesis at the end of your resume is recommended, but optional. In this attachment, concisely summarize your thesis work, placing it within its scholarly context, and noting its contribution to the field. Your summary should be comprehensible to people outside your field, but scholarly enough to interest people within your area of expertise. Looking at theses on related topics, in Rotch or Dewey Library, may help you write yours. If you do provide an abstract, write "(See Abstract Attached)" in the Education section of your CV, after the name of your thesis title.
• Cover Letter: A CV should always be accompanied by a cover letter.

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Resumes - They're not all the same!

Resumes - they're not all the same!

All kinds of resumes require different content. Here are some great tips for specific resumes

General Information:

- Name/Contact info/incl website if appropriate: address, tel, cell, e-mail, http

- Education — List all schools post-high school attended and the corresponding academic degrees earned, noting honors. Also include periods of study at schools or universities attended without completing a degree or where credits were earned, even if not transferred to the next educational institution. List workshops or classes attended and notable teachers you have studied with. Incl symposiums, conventions, professional education courses etc attended/completed. The latter may be listed under honors/awards/grants if preferred.

- Note about education versus experience: if you feel you do not have the relevant experience or enough of the relevant experience; indicate which courses you took were particularly relevant to your career track. For example, if you want to go into Environmental Management, indicate that you took environmental biology.

- Related Experience/Related Work Experience/Professional Experience – List all applicable employment in chronological order beginning with the most recent. If you are going for a residency assignment in Internal Medicine, feel free to omit your restaurant serving experience. Instead, if you have not had paid employment, put your assistantships, externships, observerships, research assistant work, tutoring, or volunteerism. No matter how small the involvement, even if it was only 10 days of volunteering at a bowling alley with physically challenged children, please mention it here. Volunteerism can also be work you’ve done in your community outside of an agency. For example, if you speak a foreign language and have helped people in your community translate their medical forms, this is volunteerism. Taking initiative is admirable and your chance to shine, so mention it.

- Internships, externships, observerships, shadowing, unpaid work-experience. Also put how many hours, or hours per week if the information is available.

- Volunteerism – No matter how small the involvement, even if it was only 10 days of volunteering at a bowling alley with physically challenged children, please mention it here. Volunteerism can also be work you’ve done in your community outside of an agency. For example, if you speak a foreign language and have helped people in your community translate their medical forms, this is volunteerism. Taking initiative is admirable and your chance to shine, so mention it.

- Honors and Awards/Grants — list all recognitions of merit, prizes won in competitions, grants, fellowships, scholarships and other special recognitions.

- Publications – Are you published? Do you have articles/reviews that are awaiting approval for publication? Even if you are a contributing author, or research assistant, this area is for you

- Skills – for example computer-related experience. Are you Microsoft Office proficient? Are you Windows proficient? What other operating systems, platforms, computer languages are you proficient with? Do you have html experience? List all software packages you are familiar with, especially any you have used professionally such as SPSS, Premiere, QuarkXpress, PhotoShop, FrontPage, etc. If your workplace or school used a particular communication package, list it, for example Eudora for e-mail or Outlook. If packages are discipline specific, please put them. For example mechanical engineers should indicate their proficiency with Abaqus, Solid Work, AutoCad, Mastercam, Ansys, Matlab, etc.

- Lab skills: if you have laboratory or research experience indicate the equipment you are proficient in the use of, such as electro-spectrometer, or Micro-Scan machine; media preparation, steak plate isolation, bacterial identification tests (stains, API-20e strip interpretation), blood extraction,

- Professional licensures: any current licensures you possess. For example professional dentists may want to put their NBDE Part 1-80, ECFMG can be listed here.

- Professional Affiliations — List the professional organizations, national, regional, and local, to which you belong. If you held a position within the organization or served as a volunteer, note this as well.

- Languages: spoken, written, arterial (native), and level of proficiency

- Extracurricular activities/hobbies/pastimes: this area can be used to describe sporting activities, Greek life, or other activities you are involved in or have been involved in. If you were captain of your high school cricket team, you can put it here, or varsity sports participation. Be specific as well. If you enjoy reading non-fiction books on quantum physics, do not just say you enjoy reading. Teaching tai chi is very different than just participating. If you have poetry published, don’t just put “poetry”.

- References: include all contact information and position held, if applicable. If left blank, we will simply put “References available upon request”. References fall into two categories, professional and personal. Please indicate which are professional or personal
Nurses’ resumes usually include:

In addition to the general resume information above:

- Nursing skills/proficiencies: Please put packages you have used for medical records, or your daily work such as Cerner applications, or Meditech documentation. What equipment are you proficient in the use of? For example, ventilator care; Basic life Support, Advanced Life Support, PALS, TNCC, Triple lumen CVP; AV fistulas, Swanz Ganz Catheter: Cardiac output; NG/Sump & Peg tubes; Balloon Pump management, CVVHDF. UEXCEL Professional Practice Plan. Also include Care plan creation and administration; Patient/family education; Training and in-services. If not listed elsewhere, what units have you had exposure in, i.e.: Open Heart ICU, CCU; Surgical ICU. Please be as specific as possible, for example don’t just put ventilator if it was a Bennett 7600 Ventilator, or bedside monitoring if it was Hewlett Packard bedside monitoring, or EKG when it was 12-lead EKG, even balloon pumps can be described more specifically, such as the Intraaortic balloon pump (IABP).

- Nursing certifications: list all, but do not duplicate what is listed under skills/proficiencies. Indicate any subspecialties as well, if you are CCRN, CMC, or CSC, etc.
Medical Doctors, Dental Professionals, and other medical professionals need to include (in addition to above general information):

- Doctors: please put which USMLE’s you have taken and your scores; include which ones you are enrolled for, as well. Indicate whether it was CS or CK and which step.

- Doctor skills: list procedures you are proficient in, surgeries you’ve assisted or performed, techniques you are proficient in or have been introduced to, departments you have interned in
Artists Resume should include:
Website – your professional website if you have one, or online gallery or your work; commercial sites of your work are acceptable. If your work is included in a group site, give the most exact site possible. For example, if you are a part of an online community of artists, do not just list you are a part of Artists.com. Indicate http://www.artists.com/galleries/Joe’sCeramics. If your gallery requires a username and password, do not include it as a professional website!
Honors and Awards/Grants — list all recognitions of merit, prizes won in competitions, grants, fellowships, scholarships and other special recognitions. Include artist-in residences or special workshops attended.

Bibliography — Material about you in articles, reviews, catalogues, radio and television interviews, etc. Indicate any of your work that has been included in books, magazines, newspapers, and catalogues. Do not duplicate here publications you have written, this is included in the publications portion of the resume.

Professional Affiliations — List the professional organizations, national, regional, and local, to which you belong. If you held a position within the organization or served as a volunteer, note this as well.

Related Experience/Related Work Experience/Professional Experience — Include experience that is relevant to your professional art-making career: teaching art; jobs held in the field; technical experience related to your discipline; lectures, workshops and presentations given as an artist.

Exhibitions — List the title of the exhibition, the exhibition space, and the city and state where the exhibition was presented. If your exhibition experience is extensive you may want to divide your exhibitions into separate categories of exhibitions - solo shows, group shows, juried exhibitions, invitational exhibitions, touring exhibitions, museum shows, etc. As well, if notable, the curator or juror of the exhibition is often listed.

Collections — This category can be divided into private collections, corporate collections, permanent public collections, etc. It is considered proper etiquette to ask permission to list a private purchaser/owner of your work if you intend to list them on your résumé.

Other categories – indicate any commissions, residencies, and installations you have to your credit

Performing Artists Resume should include:

Performances/Recordings/Productions — Musicians should categorize their experience based on recordings, compositions, and performances. Choreographers and dancers should indicate experience with choreography, performances, and or productions. List the title of the piece, your role in the work, where performed, other collaborators or performers if appropriate, and any other relevant information. If the piece was commissioned, indicate this as well.

Collaborations — If you have extensive work with others, you may want to list your collaborative work. Indicate your role in the collaboration and list other collaborators and their roles.

Commissions — your commissioned work goes here.
Literary artists include the following:

Publications — Title of the piece(s), where published or the publishing press. Indicate fiction/nonfiction, poetry, magazine/newspaper publications, etc.

Readings — List any public readings or presentations of your work. List the title of the work presented, and the venue.

Media artists include the following:

Films/ Videos/Shorts /Digital Media /TV — Include information about completed and in-production works. Indicate your artistic role in the work – i.e.: actor, director, and writer. Was the work a video, TV, feature film, or short. List the title of the piece(s), your role in the work, other collaborators if applicable, screening location and any other relevant information.

Screenings/Festivals — If your work has appeared at several screening locations or has been included in festivals, list the various screening locations and/or festivals in which your work has appeared. You may also want to note any awards or special recognition your work received if you have not already included this elsewhere.

Architects Resume should include:

Projects: indicate size/scale of project, for example square footage or storeys; indicate the status of the project i.e.: CD development, under construction, bidding, built, on hold, mostly built, canceled, etc.

What were your responsibilities? Preparing construction documents, coordinating with consultants, DOB, SD, CD, DD, filing, bidding

Project involvement and your corresponding titles: architect, project architect, detailer, senior project architect, freelance designer, CAD designer, drafter

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